Metal wall building construction



G. V. PALMER METAL WALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION May 14, 1940.

Filed April 13. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

uzcefifallflez fi/ W/ I V ATTO NEYS.

May 14, 1940. e. v. PALMER METAL WALL BUILDING QONSTRUCTION Filed April13. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I V NVENTOR. Georzge I u'zcakPa Zmeru BY /a/@M ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 14, 1940 PATENT OFFlCE METAL WALL BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONGeorge Vincent Palmer, Los Angeles, Calif., as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Roy Lacy,

Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 13, 1936, Serial No. l4,116

9 Claims.

This invention relates to building construction, and particularly to abuilding construction employing preformed metal wall elements and toadvantageous means for securing a vertical wall 5. structure formed ofsuch metal wall elements to a foundation member.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending applicationSerial Number 688,306, filed September 6, 1933', allowed January Thepresent invention involves the use of metal wall elements which arecommercially available or maybe easily manufactured, and which may beassembled in a novel and advantageous manner to form walls and wallsections of high structural strength at a low cost. Structural shapessuch as shown and described in U. S. Patent No.

1,867,433, issued to J. H. Young, July 12, 1932, may be used to goodadvantage for the purposes of this invention, but it will be understoodthat other types of preformed metal wall elements, examples of which arereferred to hereinafter, may also be used.

One of the important objects of the invention is to provide for easy andeffective attachment of a sectional metal wall construction to afoundation member.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in whicha vertically extending metal wall or metal wall element of the characterdescribed may be sealed to a masonry member extending along the loweredge of said wall or wall element in such manner as to obtain aweather-tight joint having high resistance to stresses applied in anydirection.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in whicha plurality of similar structural elements are joined to give acomposite unitary wall structure in which the upper ends of saidelements are alined at a common level, while the lower ends thereof aresupported on a concrete or other masonry foundation member in suchmanner that variations in the length of such structural elements arecompensated for, to provide substantially equal loadbearingcharacteristics for each of the said structural elements, and to providefor properly supporting the lower ends of all of said elements. Afurther object of the invention is to provide a construction whereby aplurality of structural elements are secured and held in mutualalinement by a suitable concrete or other masonry construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction in whicha plurality of similar structural elements are joined to give acomposite unitary structure having its lower edge portions disposed in amasonry foundation member and interlocked therewith through the agencyof a suitable reinforcing structure, whereby 5 the composite wallstructure and the foundation structure will effectively be made into anintegral structural assembly.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed outhereinafter or will be 10 apparent from the following description.

The construction of the present invention contemplates the use ofstructural elements formed of sheet steel or other metal, and consistinggenerally of fiat plates provided or not with one or 15 more hollowcells secured thereto and extending longitudinally thereof, said flat"plate portions of the structural elements being preferably provided attheir longitudinal edges with overlapping portions whereby two or moreof said ele- 20 ments may be assembled in a plane to form a verticalwall. The overlapping portions may, if desired, be so formed as tointerlock with one another so as to form, when so assembled, asubstantially continuous structural wall or wall sec- 5 tion of highload-carrying capacity and high resistance to stresses applied in anydirection in the plane of the wall.

In the forming of a wall through the use of structural elements of thecharacter above described, the several elements are preferably disposedin alined vertical relation and the several elements may be suitablysecured at one end, as by welding or otherwise, to a suitable structuralmember extending along the length of the wall, 35 and the other endsembedded in a masonry member extending along the full length of suchwall.

In its broad conception, the present invention providesa wallconstruction in which a plurality of structural wall elements of thecharacter de- 40 scribed are alined in a desired vertical plane, withtheir abutting edges suitably inter-engaged, the lower ends imbedded ina concrete or other suitable masonry foundation member and the upper endpreserved in alinement, for example, through the agency of an alinementmember secured to or engaging said elements. The structural attachmentof the elements by embedment of the lower ends thereof in masonry, asaforesaid, maybe augmented by providing suitable apertures in the sidewalls of the element whereby the masonry may extend through such sidewalls and thus mechanically interlock the elements to the foundationmember, or suitable projections may be formed on the elements,

Cit

which may be caused to engage the masonry member and thus contribute tothe mechanical interlock.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention a plurality ofstructural wall elements of the character described are alined in adesired ertical plane, with their abutting edges suitably interlocked,and the lower edge portions of each of the individual elements areplaced in a suitable groove in a masonry foundation member, after whicha reinforcing member such as a steel rod is passed longitudinallythrough the hollow cell portions of the elements through suitableapertures in the side walls of each hollow cell disposed relativelyclose to the lower end of each of the elements, whereby such rod ispositioned below the upper edge level or such groove, and a suitablemasomy grout is then cast in place within such groove and surroundingsaid rod and the lower end portions of said elements. Numerousmodifications of such construction are possible, and auxillia-ryreinforcing members may be employed to obtain a more satisfactory loadand stress distribution between such reinforcing rod and the masonrygrout, and it will be appreciated that the following disclosedmodifications are but exemplary.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the several features of the presentinvention, together with certain important modifications thereof, andreferring thereto:

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional broken-away side elevation of a wallconstruction according to the present invention, showing one arrangementfor securing the lower ends of the wall structure in a masonryfoundation member;

Fig. 2 is a section thereof taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof taken on line 33 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a View substantially conforming to Fig. 1, in which a modifiedform of groove and grout is shown;

Fig. 5 is a section thereof taken on line 5-5 in Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a view of a section of a wall element of the type shown inFigs. 1 to 5;

Fig. 7 is a view corresponding generally to Fig. 1, showing modifiedtype of reinforcing means integrally securing the metal wall elementswithin the routing masonry;

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, showing a construction inwhich a reinforcing tie member is embedded in the masonry foundationmember and employed to co-operate with a reinforcing rod or the likepassed through the metal wall sections within a grouting groove;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the inventionin which the metal wall element is supported in a solid masonry blockand provided with a reinforcing tie to said block;

Fig. 10 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, showing a metal wall elementsupported in a solid masonry block with a modified form of reinforcingtie;

Fig. 11 shows a construction whereby a metal wall may be secured to adivergent masonry member to form an interiorly and exteriorly reinforcedjuncture;

Fig. 12 shows a construction in which a reinforcing rod member and aplurality of eye-bolts co-operate to secure alined wall elements to amasonry foundation member; and

Fig. 13 shows a construction embodying a modified type of wall elementprovided with projections which may be caused to engage in thefoundation or other masonry member to obtain the desired interlock.

The shape of the individual wall elements may be as shown in detail inFig. 6, wherein such an element is shown as comprising a flat plate Iprovided along one longitudinal edge with a female interlocking membersuch as a groove 2 and along the opposite edge with a male interlockingmember such as a fiange 3. The hollow cells which contribute to thestructural strength of the elements may be formed by a metal sheet 4which may be bent to form one or more chan nels of U or V shape andsecured to the plate I at points of contact such as at 5 by welding orriveting, or in any other suitable manner, with the open side of thechannels facing the sheet I. The flat sheet 1 and the bent sheet 4 thusdefine a plurality of parallel longitudinal hollow cells C, each havingthe closed cross-sectional shape of a symmetrical trapezium andextending along the length of the element and preferably throughoutsubstantially the entire length thereof. An intermediate channel C ofsimilar but reversed shape is thus also provided, with its open sidedirected away from the fiat sheet I. The side walls 6 of each of thecells C are provided with one or more openings 1 through which asuitable reinforcing member may be extended, as subsequently described,and such holes I are preferably alined in adjacent cells in a planenormal to the length of the elements whereby such a reinforcing rod maybe extended through from one cell to another.

Additional shapes of wall elements, having hollow cells of modifiedcross-sectional configuration, have been heretofore described in theabovementioned Young patent and are further delineated in Figs. 2 and 3of my co-pending application Serial Number 688,307, filed September 6,1933.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, a plurality of units such as shown in Fig. 6are assembled in a common plane, with the male interlocking membersecured to the upper ends of the elements as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 toprovide for disposition of imposed loads among the several elements.Attachment of the angle member 8 in the above described manner effectsan alinement of the upper ends of the structural elements, and when thedesired length of wall structure is so assembled, it may be shored inplace in a vertical position with the lower ends of the respectiveelements in a suitable groove H in a masonry foundation block l2. Inthis particular modification, the groove H is shown as provided withoutwardly sloping side walls l3 and M, whereby the bottom of said grooveis of greater dimension than the top of said groove and a desirabledove-tail construction is provided. The groove ll, furthermore, ispreferably slightly wider at its upper portion than the transversethickness of the wall elements to provide an easy insertion of suchelements within the groove, and the bottom wall of the groove ispreferably formed with upper and lower stepped portions l5 and 16,whereby the wall elements may rest on the upper portion l5 and aclearance is provided between the bottom edge of the wall elements andthe lower stepped portion l6 to provide for easy flow of the groutmaterial upwardly withinthe hollow cells C. In fabrication of the wallelements, some variation in the longitudinal dimensions thereof willoccur, or when longer elements are cut to form a wall of a given height,the cutting may not be perfect, but such variation in the length ofadjacent elements is in no sense suflilcient to provide an adequatespace at the ends to allow free flow of the grout material into thegroove II. In Fig. 1 the central element A is shown as a longelementresting against the bottom portion I5 of the groove II, while the rightand left hand sections are shown as somewhat shorter and separated fromthe groove portion I5 a short distance. It will be understood that theangle member 8, as above pointed out, provides for satisfactoryalinement of the elements of the upper edge of the wall and thus thevariations in the length of adjacent elements are confined to the loweredge of the wall. The side walls 6 of the cells C are provided withsuitable openings 1 as described in connection with Fig. 6, and throughthe lowermost series of such openings a suitable reinforcing rod I! isextended. A suitable number of transverse reinforcing elements such asbent rods I8 may be laid over the rod I I in the cell spaces to providefor distribution of load from the rod I'I into the grout provided in thegroove II. After the reinforcing rods I1 and I8 are placed in position,the groove II may be filled with masonry flush with the upper surfacesof the masonry foundation member I2 as shown at I9, and allowed toharden.

' In the above construction, the individual section wall elements areaccurately maintained in alinement by their embedment in the grout I9,

7 will resist force applied transversely to the plane of the wall due tothe presence of the rod I3 and the fiat plate portions I of theelements, will resist forces applied horizontally in the plane of thewall by virtue of the projecting cells C, and will resist forces appliedvertically in the plane of the wall by reason of the rods I! and I8, itbeing comprehended that at all times the grout I9 is securely positionedwith respect to the masonry foundation member I2 by virtue of thedove-tail interlocked therewith.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the masonry foundationmember I2 is provided with a modified form of groove 2|, which is shown.as provided with a positioning edge 22 against which one side of thewall elements may be disposed in alinement, and an upwardly slopingside-wall portion 23 at the opposite side to provide a partial dove-tailconstruction. A rod 24 corresponding to the rod I! and a plurality ofrods 25 corresponding to the rods I8 may be employed after the mannershown in Fig. 1 to further assist in the maintenance of the wallelements within the grout groove, and a suitable grout 26 may be castinto'the groove ZI in the manner above described.

Referring to Fig. 7, the wall elements may be disposed within a groutgroove 30 of the type shown in Fig. 2 or of the type shown in Fig. 5,and a plurality of short reinforcing rods 28 inserted through theopenings l in the side walls of the elements, said rods 25 having theirend por- Referring to Fig. 8, a masonry foundation member 3I is shown asprovided with a dove-tailed flat-bottomed grout groove 32, although itwill be appreciated that a stepped bottom groove such as shown at I-I6in Fig. 5 may be equivalently employed, and a plurality of reinforcingrods 33 are cast in the block ill in such position as to have a portionextending upwardly within the space C provided between two adjacentcells C of a wall element, whereby after insertion of a reinforcing rodII the upper end portions of such rods 33 may be bent downwardly fromtheir original position (as shown in dotted lines at 33a) intoengagement with the rod II, as shown at 331). After the upper endportions of the rods 33 are bent downwardly over the installed rod I1,masonry of a suitable consistency may be cast into the groove 32 inposition to surround the lower ends of the wall elements and engage therods I1 and 33 after the manner shown at 34.

In Figs. 9 and I have shown a construction in which the end portions ofthe individual wall elements are cast in the foundation block itself,and according to Fig. 9, a reinforced tie between the wall element andthe concrete or other masonry foundation member 35 may be provided as bymeans of a U-shaped member 38 having outwardly bent portions 37 disposedin place within the space C with the projecting portions 31 extendingthrough opposing openings I in the side walls 6 of such element. Inassembling a structure such as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, it will bepractical to place a suitable block or the like such as shown at 38 inFig. 10 in load supporting relation to the elements during the placementof the masonry foundation, as will be apparent to one skilled in theart.

In Fig. 10 a rod II and a plurality of rods I8 may be employed in amanner comparable to that shown in Fig. l, the wall elements blocked. inplace as above described and the masonry foundation cast in place aboutthe elements as shown at 39.

' In Fig. 11 I have shown a construction in which a Wall comprising oneor more metal wall elements, for example of the type shown in Fig. 6,are tied to a divergent masonry structure through the use of reinforcingrods or the like; The numeral 4| may represent a masonry foundation orother supporting structure and the elements may form a wall 42. Aplurality of reinforcing rods 43 are disposed within any one or anynumber of the hollow cells C of the elements and may be extended intothe area occupied by the ma sonry member 4| as shown at 44. Concrete orother suitable masonry may be poured into the hollow cells C as shown at45 concurrentlywith the pouring of the member 4! so as to surround therods 43 and, if desired, the lower ends of the elements may be embeddedin the member 4! after the manner shown in Figs. 9 or 10; If desired,the member M may be preformed with the rods 43 in place as shownat theright-hand side of this figure and the elements placed in position oversuch rods with or without the use of a groove and grout as shown inFigs. 1 to 3, and masonry placed as at 45 whereby the wall 42 issecurely positioned with respect to the member 4|. This constructionprovides a junction between a metal wall and a divergent structuralmember of very high strength characteristics,

particularly in that the individual masonry columns or blocks M areinteriorly reinforced through the agency of the rods 43 and areexteriorly reinforced by the metal wall elements. As

an alternative construction, the member 4! may be preformed with therods 43 in place and a suitable grout groove such as shown in Fig. 2provided to receive the ends of the wall elements, as above suggested,and then concrete or other suitable masonry poured into the grout grooveas described in connection with Figs. 1 to 3, in which case the concretewill rise within the lower portion of each of the elements and providethe desired interlock.

In Fig. 12 I have shown a plurality of elements, the lower edges or endsof which are disposed within a grout-groove 55 in a foundation member52. At suitable intervals along the length of the groove 5| eye-bolts 53are embedded in the foundation member, either being cast in place whenthe member 52 is cast, or cemented into the said member at a later date.The eye-portions 54 of the bolts 5., are preferably positioned inapproximate alinement with the lower row of holes or openings '5 in theside walls of the elements, in position to engage a reinforcing rod 55passed through said holes. When the grout 56 is filled in, as shown atthe left side of this figure, the rod will be engaged by said grout,and, through the agency of the bolts 53. both said rod and said groutwill be firmly positioned with respect to the foundation member. It willbe appreciated that a dove-tailed grout is not essential to thisembodiment of the invention, inasmuch as a straightsided grout mayadvantageously be employed without sacrifice of structural strength inthe construction.

In Fig. 13 I have shown a modified construction in which a modified typeof wall element is employed, in which the lowermost openings 1a in theside walls of the cells C are formed by punching a relatively largeportion of the metal of the side wall into the cell C, to form alaterally projecting portion lb within said cell. When a grout 5'! ispoured into position within the groove 58 in the foundation member 59,about the lower ends of this particular type of wall element, themasonry will flow into position surrounding the portions 11) and thussecure a firm interlock of the grout with the wall structure. It will beappreciated that the above-described form of laterally projectingportion of the wall elements is not the only type which would be usefulaccording to this embodiment of the invention, inasmuch as practicallyany desired type of laterally projecting grout-engaging member of likefunction may be provided. It will be further appreciated that theembodiments shown in Figs. 12 and 13 are equally adapted to monolithicfoundation constructions, the form shown in Fig. 13 being employed in amanner comparable to that described in connection with Fig. 10, and theform shown in Fig. 12 may be adapted to monolithic construction bywiring the bolts 53 in place to dispose the same in a preferred medialposition with respect to the spaces between the adjacent cells C.

In Figs. 1, 4, 7, and 12, the grout has been broken away at theright-hand side, and in Fig. 13 it has been broken away at the left-handside, whereby the embedded structure may be more clearly shown, and itwill be appreciated that the grout will be placed in substantially thefull length of the grouting groove in conventional practice of theinvention, although under some circumstances it may be advisable to omitthe grout at certain areas, according to the particular constructioninvolved.

Numerous additional modifications of the herein delineated constructionswill occur to those skilled in the art, and it will be appreciated thatI consider myself in no sense limited to the specific forms shown, butrather to the scope of the appended claims. For example, the reinforcingrods H or 24 and the associated reinforcing elements may be omittedunder some circumstances, if desired, and a structural interlock orinterbond of the fluid grout depended upon, as by causing such grout tofill the spaces C and C and interbond through the embedded openings 1,using the form of wall elements shown in Fig. 6, after the manner shownin Fig. 13. It will also be appreciated that supporting blocks such asshown at 38 with respect to Figs. 9 and 10 will not be required tosupport each element of the wall structure, but may be placed atsuitable intervals along the length of such structure, the interveningwall elements being supported jointly by the structural member along theupper ends thereof (angle 8, Fig. 1) and the rod I1, 24 or the like atthe lower end of the wall.

I claim:

1. A metal wall building construction comprising a plurality ofvertically extending preformed metal wall elements disposed incontiguous alined relationship to form a wall, and a masonry memberextending along the lower edge of said wall, the lower end portion ofeach of said wall elements being embedded in said masonry members, atleast one of said metal wall elements comprising one or more verticallyextending hollow cells, and said invention comprising in addition,reinforcing means embedded in said masonry member and secured to one ormore of said hollow cells.

2. A metal wall building construction comprising a plurality ofvertically extending preformed metal wall elements disposed incontiguous alined relationship to form a wall, and a masonry memberextending along the lower edge of said wall, the lower end portion ofeach of said wall elements being embedded in said masonry member, atleast one of said metal wall elements comprising one or more verticallyextending hollow cells, and comprising in addition, reinforcing meansembedded in said masonry member and having portions extending into oneor more of said hollow cells, and said masonry member having portionsdisposed within said last-named cells and surrounding and engaging saidextending portions of said reinforcing means.

3. A metal wall building construction comprising a plurality ofpreformed metal wall elements disposed in contiguous alined relationshipto form a vertical wall, at least one of said elements comprising one ormore longitudinally extending hollow cells, a masonry member extendingalong an edge of said wall transverse to the length of said cells,reinforcing means disposed in said masonry member and having portionsextending into one or more of said hollow cells, and a masonry memberdisposed within said last-named hollow cells and surrounding suchextending portions of said reinforcing means.

4. A metal wall building construction which comprises: a plurality ofvertically extending preformed metal wall elements disposed incontiguous alined arrangement to form a wall, at least one of saidelements being provided with side walls defining at least one hollowcell extending vertically along at least a portion of the length thereofand having openings therein; a reinforcing member extending through oneof said openings at the lower end of said element and engaging a sidewall thereof; and a masonry member extending along at least a portion ofthe lower edge of said Wall, in engagement with said one element and atleast a portion of said reinforcing member.

5. A metal wall construction as set forth in claim 4, the openings inopposing side walls of said hollow cell being in substantiallytransverse alinement and said reinforcing member extending through suchalined openings in engagement with said side walls.

6. A metal wall construction as set forth in claim 4, the openings inopposing side walls of said hollow cell being in substantiallytransverse alinernent and said reinforcing member extending through suchalined openings in engagementwith said side walls, and comprising inaddition: one or more transverse reinforcing members en aging saidfirst-named reinforcing member and said masonry member.

7. A metal wall building construction comprising a plurality ofpreformed metal wall elements Lil in contiguous alined relationship toform a vertical wall, at least one of said elements comprising one ormore longitudinally extending hollow cells having open lower ends, amasonry member extending along an edge of said wall transverse to thelength of said cells, said masonry member including a portion extendingupwardly within the open lower end of a hollow cell of said one elementand secured to said element, said hollow cell or cells comprisingvertically extending side Walls provided with transverse openings, andsaid construction also comprising reinforcing means embedded in saidmasonry member and extending through an opening in at least one of saidside walls in engagement with said side wall.

8. A metal wall building construction comprising: a plurality ofvertically extending preformed metal wall elements disposed incontiguous alined relationship to form a wall, at least some of saidelements being provided with one or more longitudinally extending hollowcells open at their lower ends and providing a group of substantiallyenclosed vertically extending spaces, the adjacent hollow cells of saidwall being spaced from one another along the length of said wall toprovide a group of partly enclosed vertically extending spaces, theindividual spaces in said last-named group being disposed intermediatethe individual spaces of said first-named group, and said hollow cellsserving to define the lateral limits of said Wall; a masonry foundationmember extending along the lower edge of said Wall and having a groovein position to receive the lower end portion of each of said wallelements; and agrout disposed in said groove and engaging said lower endportions of said wall elements, the lower end portion of each of saidelements being embedded in and substantially surrounded by said grout,and said grout having portions extending upwardly from, below the loweredge of said wall into the spaces of one of said groups of spaces andwithin the lateral limits of said wall, and said groove being providedwith a stepped lower wall, and at least some of said elements engagingthe upper stepped portion of said lower wall at said lower end portionsof said elements.

9. A metal wall building construction comprising: a plurality ofvertically extending preformed metal wall elements of varying verticallength and disposed in contiguous alined relationship to form a wall;means integrally securing said sections together along the upper edge ofsaid wall with the upper edges in substantial horizontal alinement withone another; at least some of said elements being provided with one ormore longitudinally extending hollow cells open at their lower ends andproviding a group of substantially enclosed vertically extending spaces,the adjacent hollow cells of said wall being spaced from one anotheralong the length of said wall to provide a group of partly enclosed,vertically extending spaces, and the individual spaces in said lastnamedgroup being disposed intermediate the individual spaces of saidfirst-named group, and said hollow cells serving to define the laterallimits of said wall; a masonry foundation member extending along thelower edge of said wall and having a groove in position to receive thelower end portion of each of said wall elements with the longer of saidelements having their lower ends in engagement with the bottom of saidgroove; and a grout disposed in said groove and engaging the lower endportions of each of said wall elements, said grout having portionsextending upwardly from below the lower edge of said wall into thespaces of one of said groups of spaces and within the lateral limits'ofsaid wall.

GEQRGE VINCENT PALMER.

